The white-eared ground sparrow (''Melozone leucotis'') is a large

American sparrow New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share t ...

which occurs locally in Middle America, mostly in foothills, from southern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

to northern

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. This bird is found typically at altitudes between in the undergrowth and thickets of ravines, forest edge, and other semi-open woodland including second growth and large gardens. The nest, built by the female, is a massive bowl of stems, twigs and other plant material constructed on the ground or less than up, and hidden amongst

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

plants,

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

s or similar cover. The female lays two brown-blotched white eggs, which she incubates for 12–14 days. The male helps in feeding the chicks. The white-eared ground sparrow is on average long and weighs . The adult has a stubby dark-grey bill and unstreaked olive-brown upperparts. The head is mainly black with a broken white eye ring and white patches in front of and behind the eye. The nape is green and the sides of the neck are bright yellow. The throat and breast patch are black, separated by a thin

rufous Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a dia ...

-grey line, and the rest of the underparts are mainly white with grey on the flanks. Young birds have yellower underparts, and a duller indistinct head pattern. North

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

birds, ''M. l. nigrior'', have a much broader black breast spot than the nominate Costa Rican form, and the northernmost of the three subspecies, ''M. l. occipitalis'', has a grey crown stripe, obvious yellow

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also ...

, and very small breast spot. White-eared ground sparrow calls include a thin ''tsip''. The male's song is an explosive whistled ''spit-CHUR see-see-see''. The white-eared ground sparrow feeds on the ground on seeds, fallen berries,

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s and

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s. It is usually in pairs, and is a shy species best seen at near or dusk, although easier to find than its skulking relative, Prevost's ground sparrow.

References

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External links

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Stamp
(for

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

) at bird-stamps.org
Pájaros_de_Costa_Rica_ Pájaros_de_Costa_Rica_[Birds_of_Costa_Rica
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/nowiki>_.html" ;"title="irds of Costa Rica">Pájaros de Costa Rica irds_of_Costa_Rica">Pájaros_de_Costa_Rica_[Birds_of_Costa_Rica
/nowiki>_*_ *_ *_ {{Taxonbar">from=Q3726404 Melozone.html" ;"title="irds of Costa Rica
/nowiki> ">irds of Costa Rica">Pájaros de Costa Rica from=Q3726404 Melozone">white-eared_ground_sparrow Birds_of_Mexico Birds_of_Guatemala.html" ;"title="irds of Costa Rica
/nowiki> * * * {{Taxonbar">from=Q3726404 Melozone">white-eared ground sparrow Birds of Mexico Birds of Guatemala">irds of Costa Rica
/nowiki> * * * {{Taxonbar">from=Q3726404 Melozone">white-eared ground sparrow Birds of Mexico Birds of Guatemala Birds of El Salvador Birds of Nicaragua Birds of Costa Rica Birds described in 1861, white-eared ground sparrow